


Close Call

by blue_pointer



Series: 1939 [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bottom Bucky Barnes, Dancing, Fluff and Smut, Greedy Bucky, Jealous Steve Rogers, M/M, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Stucky - Freeform, Top Steve Rogers, dance hall, lindy hop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 09:36:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7710073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_pointer/pseuds/blue_pointer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky drags Steve out dancing, and Steve almost makes a new friend.<br/>But Steve is convinced no one could possibly be interested in him, much to Bucky's annoyance.<br/>One of the girls monopolizes Bucky's attention, much to Steve's annoyance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Call

**Author's Note:**

> I loved researching this one, you guys. A lot.  
> 

Man, but Bucky could dance.  
  
Steve watched from a table at the edge of the dance floor, feeling miserable. He clutched a large wad of tissues in his left hand and was attempting to sketch with his right, but the sneezes just kept coming. Sinus infections were the worst. Too bad he got them all throughout the spring.

Because he was feeling terrible, Steve did his best to live vicariously through Bucky, who was jitterbugging like a wild man, switching partners in the middle of the song as all he had to do was grab the hand of one of the eager circle of girls surrounding him on the dance floor and pull her in. Steve would have had to buy a ticket if he’d wanted to dance with any of the girls here, and he flat refused to do so. If you had to pay a girl to dance with you, she didn’t really want to dance with you. No thanks.

Bucky was the proof of that rule, because he’d never once paid for a dance. In fact, the dance hall’s owner had offered more than once to pay _him_ to dance here. Bucky was good for business, not just because he could keep up with many colored dancers, but because he was a huge draw for girls, and a hall full of girls brought in the guys, who spent money and kept the hall’s doors open. 

Bucky had never been interested, though. “I’m just here to have a little fun, Sal,” he’d tell the owner. “If I got paid for it, it wouldn’t be fun no more.” But privately he’d told Steve that dancer was no kind of job for a man. “Besides,” Bucky had said. “If I get paid, I gotta dance with one girl for however long they say, and I like to choose.”

From what Steve could tell, Bucky had quite the crowd to choose from. There wasn’t a single unattractive girl in that circle. Steve would have danced with any of them, but of course none of them had the time of day for a guy like him. Not without a ticket.

Another huge sneeze wracked Steve’s body, doubling him over the table. The sinus headache he had right now was no joke. He briefly thought about taking some aspirin, but it hardly did anything for Steve anymore unless he took several, and he didn’t feel like doing that to his stomach tonight. So he suffered through.

On the dance floor, Steve watched Bucky testing the girls’ skills to see which one he’d dance with longest. He liked to backflip them to see how well they did. It was dangerous as hell to Steve’s mind, but the girls all knew by now. The first night he’d tried it, well... that had been a damn mess. Girls learned really quick you couldn’t lindy hop with Bucky unless you knew your air steps. When the music slowed down, there would be a lot more girls rushing out hoping to dance with his best friend, but for now...

Steve just sighed, watching Bucky. That was never going to be him. Bucky’s face lit up when a new girl entered the circle. It was Maria Fiorello, the only girl who could really keep up with him. She was a taxi dancer at Roseland, so she got plenty of practice. Way more than most of the girls in the neighborhood, who had respectable working girl jobs. Steve watched her displace the girl with whom Bucky was currently dancing, jumping in for a Snatch. Of course, Bucky caught her, and it was on. Steve felt sorry for the first girl, who didn’t notice she’d been replaced right away, and then moved back to the surrounding circle with her head down. “Asshole,” Steve muttered under his breath. Sometimes Steve thought Bucky didn’t take the girls’ feelings into consideration at all. He just wanted to have fun.

“Your friend’s a really good dancer,” an unfamiliar voice said at Steve’s elbow. His ears were so plugged up, Steve almost didn’t understand her over the music.

He turned and stared at the girl in what must have been a stupid way until the words processed. “Oh,” Steve said, after too long a silence. “Yeah. He is.” Steve turned back to his drawing. This girl obviously didn’t want to talk to him, especially if she was looking at Bucky.

“Oh.” The girl was still talking. “You’re an artist?” She tried to peer at his sketchbook, but Steve leaned over the paper protectively. Why were people always trying to see what he was drawing?

“Not really,” Steve said, still partially obscuring the paper with his body. “I just kinda draw sometimes. When I’m bored.” He hated the way his voice sounded. He was so congested, none of the words came out right. And his voice was thundering loud in his head, thanks to his clogged ears. Steve really had no clue how loud he was speaking.

“Oh, that’s…” the girl blinked eyelashes so fair they were nearly invisible against her pale skin. “That’s amazing, though.” She pulled out a chair and started to sit down at his table. Steve just stared. She was a mousy little thing, her oily skin pallid, brown eyes nearly hidden by her cloche hat that matched the champagne-colored dress she wore. It was clearly a hand-me-down. Like his own, her young back had the tell-tale curve of scoliosis. For a minute, Steve knew how people must feel looking at him. “M-my name’s Charlotte.” She offered a hesitant smile. “What’s yours?”

“Steve.” He turned back to his drawing, a detailed sketch of the ceiling, the stamped tin tiles and art deco chandelier. “It’s nothing special,” Steve said about his drawing, glancing back at Bucky and Maria doing Over the Back on the dance floor. When you orbited the sun, there was no point trying to shine. Steve was happy to be Bucky’s shadow.

“I’m sorry,” the girl said, withdrawing into herself a little. “But I think you’re a really good artist.” Steve glanced up at her again. She looked so unhappy. He looked back at Bucky and his circle of admirers. Then he got it. She must want to dance with Bucky, too, but she knew she had no chance.

“If you want,” Steve offered, “I can tell him you wanna dance. Sometimes he picks a new girl for a slower dance.” Steve wasn’t going to repeat aloud what Bucky called it when he gave the plain girls a chance. But he did do it on a regular basis. Charity was probably a nicer way to say it.

“What?” the girl shouted, unable to hear Steve over the sudden drum solo the band was playing. She pulled up the sides of her hat so she could hear better, and Steve noticed with pity that she had big ears, too.

“You wanna dance, right?” Steve shouted.

The girl looked like she was about to cry with nerves. “Yes! Please!”

Steve nodded. “Okay. I’ll go tell ‘im!” He rose from his chair, hoping he’d be able to get Bucky’s attention over the music. The girl stood up, too, and Steve waved her off. “Do you mind watching my stuff?” he asked. “I’ll be right back.”

The girl looked like she’d been about to follow him, but now she stopped, confused. “What?”

“Just make sure no one touches my drawing. I’ll be right back.” Steve left to head out on the dance floor. She seemed like a nice enough girl. He hoped Bucky would give her a chance, because no way in hell would any other guy here, looking like she did.

The dance floor was a dangerous place for a little guy like Steve. He had to dodge couple after couple, who went spinning by apparently heedless of anyone around them. Finally he got to the circle of girls around Bucky. “‘scuse me!” Steve yelled, trying to squeeze in. Several of the girls looked down at him in disgust or annoyance. Then one recognized him.

“Heya, Stevie!” Carla Bonaduce smiled down at him and let him squeeze in next to her.

“Hey,” Steve said, in that tone that let her know she didn’t have to feel obligated to talk to him just because she was in love with his best friend. Steve had hardly moved into the inner circle when Bucky looked up at him. He started to make hand signals explaining what was going on, but Bucky just looked confused. He tossed Maria over his head and walked over to Steve, the dance temporarily forgotten.

“What’s up, Stevie?”

“This girl!” Steve shouted over the music. “She wants to dance with you!”

“No shit, Steve,” Bucky grinned. “So do all these girls.” And he smiled dazzlingly at the surrounding females.

“No, I mean--” Steve glanced around and lowered his voice a little. “If you decide to...take the dogs for a walk tonight…”

“What?” Bucky shouted, unable to hear Steve over the music.

Steve sagged a little. He’d hated saying that phrase the first time. He was not going to repeat it. “Nevermind!” he shouted. “Just come see me in a little bit!”

“Okay!” Bucky promised. It was just as well the conversation was over, because not one but three different girls were dragging him back into the center of the circle to dance.

Steve just waved and went back to his table. His drawing was still there, but Charlotte was gone. _Of all the nerve_ , Steve thought. And he’d been trying to do the girl a favor. He was sitting back down when he caught movement from the corner of his eye and turned to see her crouched at a table by herself, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Was she just shy? Steve wondered. Maybe seeing him go to ask Bucky for her had been too much.

He glanced at his drawing and then glanced back at the girl. Drawing...or girl. Drawing...or girl. Steve sighed and decided to go talk to her. He didn’t want her to cry, even if she was shy. Bucky would definitely dance with her if she needed cheering up, though. He was pretty great like that. “Um, excuse me?” Steve called out when he started to get close to her. “Sorry if I embarrassed you. I just thought you might be too shy to say you wanted a dance yourself.”

The girl was partially hiding her face behind her tissue. It was all red and blotchy now, so Steve really couldn’t blame her. “What?” she asked.

“Don’t worry,” Steve said. “My friend will dance with you. I personally guarantee it.”

But she just stared at him. How was that for gratitude! Steve waited, because she looked like she was getting up the courage to say something. It took her a while. “I--I don’t want to dance with your friend,” she said.

“Sure you do,” Steve said. “Every girl wants to dance with Bucky. You don’t gotta be shy.”

The girl glared at him then, crumpling the tissue in her delicate hand. “I have to go to the powder room!” she said, with vehemence, and Steve just stood there while she walked off. He wasn’t really sure what had just happened, but Steve figured he was off the hook. So he returned to his table. To find some profanity written on his drawing.

“Seriously!?” Steve shouted, looking around for the culprit. What was so damn funny about leaving graffiti on his sketches? Then he sneezed, and it didn’t matter anyway. Steve sat down, grabbed a tissue, and sadly turned to a fresh page.

He had drawn several of the girls surrounding Bucky from behind (not a bad angle to draw girls from, if Steve said so himself) by the time his best friend showed. “Hey, Stevie,” Bucky smiled, reaching for the water Steve had saved him. “What was it you were trying to tell me before?”

Steve looked up, staring pointedly at Maria, who was getting very friendly with Bucky as they spoke. His arm was around her waist, but hers were around his neck, and her lips were going exploring. “Tell you later,” Steve said, returning to his drawing.

“Nuh-uh,” Bucky said, dropping into a seat before Maria sat down in his lap. “Tell me.”

Steve tried to pretend he hadn’t just seen his best pal grab Maria’s ass. “There was a girl here before,” he said, loudly, in hopes that it would get Maria at least to behave. “I just thought you might wanna dance with her.”

“Oh yeah?” Bucky asked, intrigued. “Where’s she at?”

“I’m not sure,” Steve said, glancing around the ballroom for her. “She left to use the powder room a while ago.”

“The powder room,” Bucky repeated. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Steve rolled his eyes as Bucky stood, taking Maria with him. Well, at least she wasn’t practically humping his lap in front of Steve anymore. He watched them cross the room, shaking his head as they disappeared into the janitor’s closet. That was one aspect of his friend’s life that Steve would never envy. Doing it in weird public places? No thanks. Steve would wait until he was married and do it in the bedroom like normal people. That was, if he ever found the right partner. At this rate…

He did wonder where Charlotte had gone, though. With a mental shrug, Steve turned to a new page in his sketchbook. Bucky might be a while.

~

“So tell me about this girl you met,” Bucky said later, when they were walking home, thankfully free of Maria.

“I didn’t meet a girl,” Steve said absently, grimacing at the lipstick stains on the collar of Bucky’s shirt.

“Steve,” Bucky laughed. “You interrupted my groove to tell me about some girl.”

“Ohhh, yeah.” Steve remembered. “I didn’t really meet her. She just sat down next to me on account of wantin’ to dance with you.”

“Steve, that makes no sense,” Bucky pointed out, pausing to swing around a street lamp like he was Fred Astaire. “Why would she sit down and talk to you if she wanted to dance with me?”

“Well she didn’t want to dance with me!” Steve said, as if it were obvious. He’d experienced all sorts of side-attention from girls hoping to get closer to Bucky. Steve felt he was an expert in it by now.

“Why not?” Bucky asked. But Steve just stared at him. No girls wanted to dance with him. Bucky needed to just stop pretending that they ever would. “All right, Steve,” Bucky said, throwing an arm around his shoulders and yanking him closer for that annoying big-brother hug. “Why don’t you tell me what actually happened, and let me decide?”

Steve sighed, longsufferingly. “Fine. This girl came up and tried to look at my sketch. She said I was a good artist.”

“You are a good artist, Steve,” Bucky cut in.

“I’m _okay_ ,” Steve said.

Bucky laughed, giving him a gentle shake. “You’re an art student, Stevie. I think even you have to admit you’re more than okay.”

“ANYway,” Steve continued, annoyed, “she said you were a good dancer, and she sat down, all longing-like, so I told her you’d  probably dance with her.”

“What are you, pimpin’ me out now, Stevie?” Bucky teased, looking a little sad.

“No,” Steve said, poking Bucky in the ribs until he let go and moved out of reach, shrieking.

“Don’t!”

Steve chuckled. “But she looked really sad, you know? Like she knew you were out of her league.”

“Was I out of her league?” Bucky asked. Steve realized he hadn’t even described Charlotte yet.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “She was pretty…” Steve tried to think of a polite way to say it.

“She was pretty?” Bucky asked, and Steve nearly poked him again, because he knew Bucky understood what he was trying to say.

“No!” Steve shouted, frustrated. “She was nothing special!”

“Well jeez, Steve. That’s kinda harsh, don’t you think?”

Steve thought about it. “I mean, she was just a girl, I guess. It’s not like I got to know her.”

“How come?” Bucky wanted to know.

Steve rolled his eyes. “‘cause she was waiting to dance with you, that’s why,” he said.

“But how do you know?” Bucky asked.

“Because EVERY girl wants to dance with you, Bucky.” Steve wasn’t amused anymore. It was so obvious. Why did Bucky have to rub it in?

“I dunno, Steve,” Bucky said. “It sounds like she may have wanted to dance with _you_. I mean, she was talking to you and sitting with you and all.”

Steve grinned; it was so ridiculous. “Yeah, right,” he said. “And if you believe that one, I know a nice bridge you might like to buy.” He pointed at the familiar landmark looming in the distance.

“Steve.” Bucky stopped walking and turned to face him. “What happened to this mystery girl? If she wanted to dance with me, how come she wasn’t there when I came?” 

“She had to go to the powder room,” Steve repeated. “I think she was crying.”

The look on Bucky’s face was not amused. “Stevie, did you make that poor girl cry?”

“No, I didn’t!” Steve squawked. “I got up to tell you to save a slow dance for her, and when I came back she had left the table and was crying!”

“Steve.” Bucky came over and rested his hands on Steve’s shoulders. “I want you to think about it real careful before you answer. When you got up to come to the dance floor, did she follow you?”

Steve thought hard. “Well she was gonna, but I asked her to watch my stuff.”

Bucky hung his head. “Steve. You are such an idiot.”

“What?” Steve knocked Bucky’s hands away, defensive. “What’d I do? I was tryin’ to be nice!”

Bucky sighed and started walking again. He looped an arm around Steve and tugged him close. “I guess one good thing about you bein’ so oblivious about women is I get you all to myself. Forever.”

“Shut up!” Steve growled. “Anyway, you had Maria an hour ago. You don’t need me, too. That’s just greedy.”

“Aw, Steve,” Bucky sighed. “I’m _so_ greedy.”

~

The tar of the roof was sticky on Bucky’s bare knees. “Steve!” he complained in a whisper, because the Bartosiks didn’t need to hear them through the roof. “That’s too hard.”

Steve continued to pound him, not letting up a bit. “I thought you were greedy,” Steve said. “I’m just giving it to you.” But Bucky slid off, leaving Steve alone on the blanket, his slick member suddenly alone in the night air.

“Now you’re just bein’ a jerk,” Bucky said, wrapping a bed sheet around his shoulders.

“You’re the jerk!” Steve insisted.

“You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous?” Bucky moved to the edge of the roof to look out towards Manhattan. The lights were like a cluster of galaxies across the river.

“Why would I be jealous?” Steve asked, sliding around to the front of Bucky to pull him close.

“I dunno,” Bucky said, coolly. “Why would you be?”

Steve nuzzled Bucky’s chest before teasing his nipples with his tongue, his hands slowly stroking Bucky’s ass. Bucky shivered against him. “I can’t believe you were so mean to that poor girl,” Bucky said.

“Buck, would you leave it?” Steve growled. “She didn’t want me.”

“Right,” Bucky said. “Because why would anyone want you?”

“Exactly!” Steve said.

But now Bucky was backing away. “You’re a real piece of work, Steve.”

“Buck...what?” Steve followed, both forlorn and annoyed now.

“If no one wants you, I guess you can just take care of business up here yourself,” he said, pulling his socks back on.

“Buck, wait,” Steve said, standing over him.

“What for?” Bucky asked, tugging his shirt over his head. “You seem pretty busy feeling sorry for yourself right now.”

“Buck, stop!” Steve said, dropping down to face him as Bucky grabbed for his pants. And Bucky did, looking at him. “Why are you so upset about this? It was just some girl. Even if you’re right--”

“Even if I’m right what, Steve?” Bucky asked.

“Even if you’re right...I got you. I don’t need some girl from the dance hall.”

Bucky’s expression changed in an instant. “What do you mean, Steve?”

“I mean…” Steve had to think about it. “Buck, you’re prettier than all those girls.”

Now Bucky looked upset again. “What?” The question sounded almost dangerous.

Steve tried again. “I mean...I got you. Why would I want them?”

“Because…” Bucky said slowly, and he couldn’t look at Steve when he said it. “You’re a guy...who likes girls?”

“I like you, Buck,” Steve said, reaching out to touch Bucky’s cheek.

“You do?” Bucky asked, looking at Steve with a strange expression. He started to scoot back on the blanket.

“Yeah,” Steve said, pursuing Bucky and leaning over him as Bucky lay back.

“Like how?” Bucky asked, and Steve leaned down to kiss him.

“Like a guy loves his best pal in the whole world,” Steve said, lying down on top of Bucky and sliding an arm around him. He kissed him again, longer this time.

“Pretty sure a guy doesn’t lie down naked and kiss his best pal,” Bucky said, his voice sounding more breathy.

“I do,” Steve said. “Especially when I just been fuckin’ him.” He kissed the pulse under Bucky’s earlobe, and felt it beating fast against his lips.

“I’m not sure that’s how best friends work, Steve,” Bucky said, but his hand was sliding down Steve’s back.

“You sayin’ you don’t wanna fuck?” Steve asked, sucking Bucky’s left clavicle.

“That’s...not what I’m saying,” Bucky stuttered. “I just--Steve…” Steve seemed to have interrupted his mental process by cupping his balls.

“I think I want you in my lap, Buck,” Steve said, teasing Bucky’s ass while he fondled him. Bucky just gasped, eyes closing.

Steve couldn’t say why, but his headache hurt a lot less when he was fucking his best friend. Bucky knelt over him, riding Steve’s dick like he needed it. “Yeah,” Steve breathed, gripping Bucky’s ass with both hands, encouraging him to come down harder. “Oh, yeah…” He let go with one hand to reach for Bucky’s stiff length, teasing just the head.

“Steve!” Bucky gasped, bouncing faster.

“Yeah, Buck.” Steve rubbed and stroked him, feeling Bucky’s natural moisture wetting his palm. “You like that.”

Bucky bit his lip, and Steve gave his ass a little slap, because he didn’t like Bucky to hold back his sex words. “Steve!”

Steve didn’t even care that the neighbors might hear them. _Fuck it._

He lifted his hips, pushing back against Bucky’s pressure. Bucky made a strangled sound which Steve knew meant it was good for him. “Steve, Steve, Steve…” He cried out and came, hot ribbons of semen jetting across Steve’s stomach.

“God, Buck!” Steve groaned. Why was his best friend so hot? And why did Bucky not understand that no girl had a chance of making him feel like this? He whined, frustrated, as Bucky’s riding slowed.

“Buck, turn over,” Steve whispered. “I wanna go fast.” When Bucky complied, Steve gripped his hips and slid back in, groaning. Then he began to thrust, hard and fast, until the sound of their bodies smacking together was surely audible in the apartment below. Steve did not care.

He got loud, too, groaning and shouting with pleasure. Steve pulled out at the last minute to jerk off all over Bucky’s ass. “Oh, God!” Steve’s knees were shaky, and his chest was threatening to close up, but that had been a good one.

“Steve,” Bucky whispered, pulling him down on the blanket and touching Steve’s lips with his fingertips. “You were so loud.”

“Think they heard us?” Steve panted, trying to breathe in through his nose, and failing because of his swollen sinuses.

“Guess we’ll find out,” Bucky said, nibbling Steve’s lips. Steve happily slid his tongue into Bucky’s mouth, kissing him slow and deep as his arms wrapped tightly around Steve.

“I’m glad you don’t know how best friends work,” Bucky sighed happily.

“I know how best friends work,” Steve said, defensive, but too tired to really put any oomph behind it.

“You know how to work your best friend,” Bucky corrected, and Steve chuckled.

“Buck, I’d work your ass any day,” he said, delivering a sloppy kiss to Bucky’s cheek.

“I noticed,” Bucky said with a tired laugh, handing Steve a tissue.

“Was I really too rough earlier?” Steve asked, suddenly getting enough blood flow back to his brain to care.

“Yeah,” Bucky complained. “I don’t make that stuff up, Steve.”

“I’m sorry, Buck,” Steve said, stroking his cheek and kissing him. “I just--when you took Maria in the closet--”

“You got jealous?” Bucky suggested.

“I wished it was me.”

Bucky grinned. “I’ll do you in the broom closet, Steve.”

“No,” Steve said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I only got walked in on once before--” Bucky began.

“All those brooms and mops and soap and stuff--”

Bucky started laughing when he realized what Steve had meant by dangerous.

“What?” Steve was defensive, knowing Bucky was laughing at him.

“You’re adorable, Stevie.” Bucky kissed his cheek.   

“Nuh-uh!” Steve said, prickling. He hated being cute-ified.

“I mean in a grown-up, sexy way,” Bucky explained, nuzzling him mercilessly.

“Oh.” Steve considered this. “Well, okay.”

Bucky chuckled, unable to stop cuddling Steve.

“Buck, you gettin’ hot again?” Steve asked, hopeful. 

“Not yet,” Bucky laughed. “We’d better go back down before Patti climbs up here looking for you.”

“Oh shit!” Steve hurriedly pulled the sheet up over his hips, glancing toward the ladder in case she did. But no one was there. “Don’t scare me like that, Buck.”

“She’s done it before,” Bucky said.

“Don’t remind me.” Steve reluctantly thought about putting clothes back on.

“Come on,” Bucky urged, sitting up after giving Steve one last kiss. “If you’re good, I’ll give you a bj after the girls are all in bed.”

“Promise?” Steve growled, sitting up to tease a kiss from Bucky’s lips.

Bucky nodded. “If you’re good.”

“I can be good,” Steve said, pulling his pants back on.

And he was.  
Even during.  
Steve could be quiet when he really needed to be.

Bucky licked his lips, climbing back up on the couch. “My turn,” Steve said, but Bucky laughed, holding him so he couldn’t move.

“No way. I gotta sleep. I know where this is gonna lead.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Steve asked, rubbing Bucky’s ass, thoughtful.

“The sleep part,” Bucky repeated. “And needing it.”

“Yeah, you need it,” Steve growled, gently biting his neck.

“Steve!” But Bucky was laughing.

“Fine,” Steve sighed. “But I’m gonna get in the shower with you in the morning.”

“If the girls are all out,” Bucky told him firmly.

One of the doors clicked open, and they separated in a flurry of limbs, quickly checking that clothing was intact. “Brother,” Patti padded across the room, dragging the giant teddy bear they’d won her at Rockaway Beach behind her.

“Yeah, honey?” Bucky stuck his head up over the back of the couch.

“I forgot to brush my teeth.”

“Uh-oh.” He got up and walked her to the bathroom to oversee her oral hygiene. Afterwards, he tip-toed into the girls’ bedroom to tuck her back in.

“You’re good with kids,” Steve observed, when Bucky returned to the couch.

“I don’t really got a choice,” Bucky explained, sliding his arms around Steve’s waist.

“How many kids you wanna have when you grow up?” Steve asked, which he realized was a bit silly, considering they were both already in their twenties.

“I don’t know, Steve,” Bucky said hesitantly. “How many do you wanna have?”

“Oh, at least two,” Steve said. Being an only child had sucked for him.

“That sounds g--”

“Maybe more,” he cut Bucky off.

“However many you want, Steve,” Bucky said, stroking his hair.

“And you can come take care of ‘em,” Steve said. “‘cause you’re good with kids.”

*

Bucky supposed that was as good as it was going to get for them once they were married. But something inside him grieved at the thought. “I’ll take care of your kids, Steve,” was all he said. Steve kissed Bucky’s hand he was holding. Bucky held him tight with his free arm.

It was nothing to be afraid of just yet, he told himself. Steve was going to have a difficult time having kids if he kept pushing women away like he’d done earlier tonight. And insisting that he didn’t need a girl so long as he could fuck his best friend.

Something about that sent a thrill through Bucky. Maybe Steve would never meet a girl he liked, and they could stay like this forever. Just two bachelors, till the end of the line.

Bucky fell asleep dreaming of what that would be like.


End file.
